YOUTH FIRST: Think the best of others unless they prove otherwise

Each summer my husband turns green — green by way of parking his car and making his morning commute to work by either running or biking.

One summer evening while biking home from work, his bag, with all of his identification, was lost. Our family immediately retraced his route, only to come up empty-handed.

My teenage daughter asked, "Do you think that we will find it?"

I answered, "No. Whoever has discovered it won't be returning it." I surprised myself by how quickly I dismissed the idea of a good Samaritan finding my husband's money, credit cards and identification and returning the items.

A call did come a week later from a man who had been out walking his dog and had found contents from my husband's bag strewn down several streets.

Someone had taken the cash and discarded the rest. Yes, it could have been worse.

A month later my 18-year-old daughter and I were out running errands, one of which entailed cashing her paycheck for $288. We stopped by a store in Newburgh to purchase two stamps. After getting our stamps, we went on to make three more stops.

It wasn't until the following morning that we realized neither of us had the $288. We searched the house and called around, nothing.

My 15-year-old daughter again asked, "Do you think that we will find it?" Once again, I answered no.

As the three of us headed out, we half-heartedly stopped by the shop where we had purchased the stamps. My daughter quickly came out with a fistful of cash, $288 to be exact.

The young man who had sold us the stamps discovered the check shortly after we had left. He apologized because he had no way of contacting us. He said that he was bothered that a customer spent 8¢ only to lose $288.

Wow, did my cynicism take a hit that day. As we send our children back to school, let's remind ourselves to think the best of their teachers, coaches and friends unless they prove otherwise. Try not to fall prey to cynical ways and rest assured that people will still do the right thing.

This column was written by Youth First's Cindy Bathauer. Youth First is an Evansville non-profit organization focused on youth substance-abuse prevention, healthy behaviors and success in school. Contact the organization at (812) 421-8336 or at www.youthfirstinc.org.